STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Habitat for Humanity's National Women Build Week began Saturday with over 20 women donning hard hats to begin the process of rebuilding homes along Staten Island's shoreline that were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

The women removed debris from a New Dorp Beach home that imploded with the storm and kept an eye out for a set of keys buried beneath it.

Habitat plans to help rebuild 100 homes on Staten Island, and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) visited the site to offer support to Habitat CEO Neil Hetherington. With her connection to hundreds of volunteers, Ms. Malliotakis plans to list Habitat projects on her Facebook page and also to send out email blasts.

"Habitat for Humanity did great stuff after Hurricane Katrina and we need as many hands and boots on the ground as we can get," Ms. Malliotakis said.

Taking down a house -- which in this case involved the removal of a mound of debris that covered almost the entire lot -- was a first for Habitat in New York City as the group normally focuses on doing crucial home repair.

Habitat for Humanity and its major sponsor, Lowe's, aims to improve housing conditions for the poor and disadvantaged and part of that effort is Women Build with more than 10,000 women expected to volunteer across the country at construction sites from Saturday to May12.

Emily Bergl, a movie and TV actress, hadn't ventured much farther than the Staten Island Ferry before, but she was drawn to the building project as a fan of Women Build because it encourages the many women who don't have construction experience to volunteer for Habitat. She barely knew how to swing a hammer, she said, when she volunteered at her first Women Build event three years ago.

Hetherington whose first views of Staten Island were from the seat of a bicycle is dedicated to helping return some normalcy to its devastated neighborhoods.

"Staten Island is such a beautiful place," said Hetherington, who says he has biked a "fair bit" of Staten Island. "When I see what happened here with Hurricane Sandy, my heart goes out to the people of Staten Island."

Habitat for Humanity is "going to make a huge difference" on the Island through its rebuilding efforts, Hetherington said.

Volunteers started by removing the roof which collapsed during the storm and was covering most of the debris. They were cautioned by Gary Orlando of Richmond, a construction supervisor, and other leaders to watch for hazards such as nails, glass and potentially shifting and sliding debris. He noted that part of their mission was to remove as much of the mess as possible so that the "neighbors don't have to look at this eyesore."

Rachel See of West Brighton, a volunteer coordinator, said that in addition to removing material, the volunteers were helping the homeowner search for a set of keys that had sentimental value.